


it's lit in here

by CaptainButts



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Book Club, M/M, Misunderstandings, Second-Hand Embarrassment, everyone in this fic is a loser, translation available in vietnamese!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:21:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23273131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainButts/pseuds/CaptainButts
Summary: “Wait,” one of the other members pauses. “We’re reading?”“Yeah!” Mark pulls out a copy of the book he mentioned and passes them along. “We’ll do a reading in a bit, but I think we should start with introductions first— say your name and your favorite book.”This, Donghyuck thinks,is definitely not a drinking club.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 91
Kudos: 699





	it's lit in here

**Author's Note:**

  * For [twobears](https://archiveofourown.org/users/twobears/gifts).
  * Translation into Tiếng Việt available: [chỗ này cháy phết](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23766760) by [FriedaApril](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriedaApril/pseuds/FriedaApril)



> I WROTE THIS FOR MY BEST FRIEND SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY BITCCCCCCHHHHH  
> i hope you like this as much as i liked writing it :) 
> 
> there's a few books/pieces of literature/movies referenced that i had their book club talk about!
> 
> Norwegian Wood- Haruki Murakami: You can find this book anywhere!  
> Please Look After Mom-Shin Kyungsook
> 
> Required (but not really) reading: Genesis- Jeon Samhye: I wanted to incorporate a bit of queer Korean literature, but it was difficult to find. I did, however, find this awesome short story that actually won a writing competition back in 2018!!! You can find the translated version online easily, please, please, please give it a read! (It is written by Jeon Samhye and translated by Anton Hur)
> 
> PS TY G (@skateboardsound on ao3) FOR BETAING FOR ME!!!! ILU!!! ALSO SPECIAL THANKS TO MY GF STACE (@lissome) FOR EDITING AS WELL!!
> 
> translation now available in Vietnamese: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23766760/chapters/57086659

It’s seven in the morning when Donghyuck decides that he’s about to commit a homicide. 

His eyes are barely open, puffy with sleep. The wind blows his hair in every direction, slapping his bangs across his face as he hugs himself for warmth. It’s the middle of March, barely ten degrees outside, and Donghyuck honestly just wants to crawl back into bed. 

But he won’t do that just yet. 

No, first he’s going to send Renjun back to Hell where he belongs. “Cannot believe you’re making me do this shit right now,” he deadpans, stealing the cup of coffee directly from his friend’s hands. 

“Hey, don’t blame me. You’re the one who told me you wanted to be more involved in campus life.” Renjun pulls Haechan closer (albeit reluctantly). “Plus, you promised you’d sign up for at least one club this year! You can’t bail on me.”

“I’m not bailing,” Donghyuck whines. “But I need my beauty sleep—one doesn’t simply look this beautiful if they don’t sleep a _full_ eight hours.” He gestures to himself.

Renjun rolls his eyes. “Okay but you’re ugly.”

“I have half the mind to turn around and go back to bed right now—”

“You’re right,” Renjun starts, huffing. Donghyuck can see his breath. “You do have half a mind. I don’t know how the hell you even got into the same university as me.”

Donghyuck pushes him away, tucking his chin down into his bright orange scarf.

The weather is brisk, but Donghyuck can’t consider the walk to the train station all that bad, despite the horrible company (“Fuck you, dude.”). 

He figures braving the weather with his roommate is much better than the hours he’s spent hunched over his keyboard for his music production classes.

By the time they make it to the station, the train is crowded. However, they manage to snag a seat by the door, huddled closely as they check out their SNS. They sit in silence, mostly Donghyuck airdropping stupid pictures to Renjun, chuckling to himself quietly as Renjun slaps his arm. “Dude. We’re in _public,_ ” He scolds Donghyuck, but immediately airdrops him things just as revolting.

When the train dies down, Renjun nudges Donghyuck’s side to get his friend’s attention. He shows Donghyuck a list of the clubs that are looking for members. 

“Hmm, what kind of club do you want to join?” Donghyuck asks. 

“Maybe a volunteering club? It might be fun, it’ll look pretty good on applications too.”

_Very practical,_ Donghyuck thinks. He honestly does not know where to begin. There’s theater groups, where he’s sure his over-dramatic ass could definitely fit in—there are sports clubs, archery, rowing, volleyball— he considers dance for a split second before he shakes his head. He wants a club where he can just...chill out. He wants to socialize, but without all the extra exertion. Donghyuck...lowkey wants to party though.

They hop off the train at the next station, Renjun buzzing excitedly as Donghyuck tries to slap the sleep out of his system. “You better not leave me—” Donghyuck begins. But Renjun has other plans. 

“Huh?” Renjun says, blatantly ignoring him as he widens the distance between them. “I’m gonna go help out one of my hyungs at his booth. Have fun, don’t forget to sign up for something!”

Renjun is already speed-walking through the grassy area where the club booths are setting up, leaving behind a very tired, very irritated Donghyuck. “Ditching me for someone you only knew for a few months? Some friend!” He calls out loudly, drawing the attention from a few students around the quad. He tuts, turning on his heel to visit the other clubs’ booths.

Donghyuck passes through rows of clubs. Students are offering samples and pamphlets left and right— he’s not going to lie, he passed by the cooking club three times now to snag some of the tteokbokki samples and the members are starting to look suspicious. 

Or annoyed. 

Doesn’t matter. He sends a few of the girls behind the booth a crooked smile and is on his way.

It’s early but there are crowds of new students pouring into the quad, mainly first years who’ve never been to the club sign up events. He narrowly bumps into someone holding a tray of food, and walks around to a simple looking booth. He reads over the sign adorning the tent. 

‘Lit Club’. 

The font, of course, is poorly painted in what Donghyuck seems to think is an attempt at Comic Sans. For a party club, the whole ensemble seems rather...lack-luster, if you ask Donghyuck. 

But as soon as the thought crosses his mind, it vanishes the second he lays eyes on the student manning the booth. A bright smile is plastered on his face as he waves the clipboard in his hand awkwardly. 

He’s kinda cute, Donghyuck decides. He stares a bit longer, the other’s face wavering just a little as Donghyuck narrows his eyes to examine him a little longer. 

Oh. 

_Oh._ He’s _really_ cute. 

It’s then that it dawns on Donghyuck that he slipped on the pair of crocs his siblings bought him as a joke for Christmas last year. He’s wearing last night’s clothes and his hair is probably a mess from sleep. _God dammit._

By now Donghyuck is acutely aware that he’s been staring at the guy for an unnaturally long time. He freezes up. 

“Hi,” is what he settles on.

The stranger on the opposite side of the booth laughs, awkward, but endearing. “Hi,” he greets. “Are you interested in joining our club?” Donghyuck looks around the booth. No one else is here except him. The other seems to notice. “My club, I guess. Sorry, all the others graduated so I’m kinda... single guy over here, haha.”

Donghyuck blinks slowly. He’s not sure if this guy is stupid or awkward or bad at talking but he doesn’t really care because the guy is hot enough for Donghyuck to look past it. 

“Yeah,” Donghyuck nods his head stupidly. “Love...being lit.” 

Nice.

“Oh,” the stranger snorts out a laugh, his nose scrunching up just a bit. “Cool? Just write your email address down on this roster and I’ll shoot you an email by the end of the day.”

Donghyuck mentally punches himself, but he somehow manages to write down his email and number and sends the guy a smile. “You can like, text me too, it doesn’t matter. I’m Lee Donghyuck.”

“Ah, I’m Mark. Nice to meet you,” he smiles, bowing just a bit. “You a first year, Donghyuck-ssi?”

Donghyuck nods his head. “First year, technically, but it’s my third quarter.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I hope to see you at our meeting! I’ll send you a list of our required reading.”

Donghyuck raises a brow and laughs, feigning understanding. Required reading must be some sort of party lingo he hasn’t heard because he’s been shut in with his dork roommates. He waves goodbye and walks back to the train station.

When he gets back to his apartment and climbs back into bed, he realizes he forgot something important. “Crap!” He yells, sitting up. _I left Renjun._

—

“I can’t believe you left me.” 

Donghyuck does feel guilty. But he refuses to admit it. “I want you to think about what you just said,” he begins. “Who exactly _abandoned_ who first?”

Renjun sputters before he groans. “You’re so lucky your name is on the lease.”

Donghyuck scoffs, “As _if_ you’d kick me out. You don’t have friends!”

“Not true! There’s...Jaemin...and Jeno!”

“Jaemin and Jeno don’t count, they’re already our roommates.”

Renjun shakes his head. “You don’t have all of the facts.”

“What fucking facts?” Donghyuck spits back. 

“I hate you.” Renjun flops down onto the couch. “By the way, did you join any clubs? You were there for like, twenty minutes. Then you disappeared.”

“I joined a club, relax.”

“Oh? Which one?”

Donghyuck smirks. “It’s a party club, you’ve probably heard of it.”

“What’s it called?”

“Lit club.”

“Lit club?” Renjun pauses for a moment, mouth agape. “The one that Mark Lee runs?”

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Donghyuck says proudly. 

Renjun stares at Donghyuck for a beat too long. “You’re so, so stupid,” he whispers.

“What?” 

“Nothing,” Renjun says quickly. “You’re going to have a great time.”

Donghyuck is about to say something snide back, when Jeno and Jaemin come waltzing into the room with a bag full of takeout.

He’ll save his words for another day, letting their aimless chatter fill the room. 

— 

**10:23AM  
** **unknown number  
** _Yoooo Donghyuck-ssi! It’s Mark from lit club_

_Our first meeting is today at 6:30pm haha hope you can make it. No required reading for this week, just bring yourself!_

  
  


Donghyuck stares down at the phone through bleary eyes. For a moment, he wonders if maybe 6:30pm on a Wednesday is a little too early to start drinking, but thinks against it. He shrugs his shoulders. Alright, he’s got to make a good impression. 

**10:26AM  
** **to mark-ssi (lit)  
** _hey mark-ssi, i’ll be there_

**10:26AM  
** **mark-ssi (lit)  
** _Okay cool haha_

  
  


Donghyuck goes about his day, attending classes and promptly sleeping through some of his electives. It’s syllabus week, so he figures skipping his last lecture won’t be too big of a deal. He heads over to the club room to see if Mark needs any help setting things up.

The club room is in a liberal arts lecture hall, super renovated and high tech. He’s a little jealous the music buildings haven’t been upgraded in years, and swears there’s gotta be asbestos in at least one of his classes. 

He pushes the door open to the meeting spot and sees Mark frantically trying to hold up a board with the words ‘Let’s get lit!’ plastered on. 

“Hey, Mark-ssi. Need some help there?”

Mark practically snaps his neck when he turns to look at Donghyuck, a shock expression on his face as he drops the glue and board that he’s so desperately trying to decorate.

“You’re early!”

“Class ended early,” he lies easily. “Wanted to know if you wanted an extra pair of hands. Which...you clearly do.”

Mark sighs, a laugh escaping his lips. “Yeah, I guess I do. I’m not very artistic in this sense, can’t hold a crayon to save my life.”

“Yeah, it shows.” Donghyuck nods. He examines Mark’s handiwork. There’s...a lot of text on this board. Names and book titles that Donghyuck has never heard of. “What exactly do you need this board for?”

Mark makes a noise of confusion. Then recognition. “Those are all the books and authors we’ll be talking about throughout the semester. I made an outline of which ones we’re going to be reading!”

Donghyuck’s eyebrows draw together. “Oh?” There’s a creeping feeling in his gut.

“Yeah, I hope you like Murakami, we’re reading _Norwegian Wood_ first. It’s a little dark, but I feel like it’s a nice introduction to start off the semester.”

_What._

Donghyuck does not know what the fuck Mark is saying. “Excuse me, what?”

Mark freezes for a second. “Oh. Are you not a fan of Murakami? Sorry, I know some of his work is a bit hit or miss…” Mark inhales a breath, “...but he is stereotypically popular with male audiences, and only guys signed up this quarter...”

Donghyuck racks his brain for an appropriate response when the door bursts open.

“ _AYO! IT’S TIME TO FUCKIN’ PARTY!_ ” The voice booms through the room. 

Donghyuck turns to see three other students come in, all of them clad in club attire. One of them is carrying what is obviously a bottle of soju in a brown paper bag. 

“Hey, you guys made it!” Mark laughs. “Thanks for bringing drinks. This is Donghyuck, by the way.” Mark gestures toward him. “He’s the youngest of us, so be nice to him.” 

The guy holding the bag waves at Donghyuck. “I’m Johnny, I brought some peach soju.”

“You bought one bottle, stop acting like you’re feeding the whole damn village,” Comes his friend’s reply. 

Donghyuck lets out a sigh of relief. Okay, so they actually were drinking. For a moment there, Donghyuck was scared he was a part of some sort of book club.

He’s about to make his thoughts known when Mark pipes up. “If we only drink that we’ll be slurring the words to the books I brought.”

“Wait,” one of the other members pauses. “We’re reading?”

“Yeah!” Mark pulls out a copy of the book he mentioned and passes them along. “We’ll do a reading in a bit, but I think we should start with introductions first— say your name and your favorite book.”

_This,_ Donghyuck thinks, _is definitely not a drinking club._

It is not a drinking club. 

Donghyuck thinks back to Renjun’s reaction and mentally slaps himself. _God dammit._ This totally _would_ happen to him. 

“I’ll go first,” Mark smiles. “My name’s Mark, I’m a second year. My favorite book is _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory._ ”

It’s painfully awkward, everyone in the room is quietly looking around at each other as they all take seats in the circle of chairs Mark spread out for them. Donghyuck wonders if it’s too late to leave.

But then all pairs of eyes are on him. Mark sends him an encouraging little smile. 

And...he doesn’t have the heart to stand up and walk out. Not when Mark is looking at him all hopeful like that. No. He’s a gemini. Not a _monster._

_(“Aren’t they the same thing?” Donghyuck can practically hear Renjun’s voice already.)_

“Hi, I’m Lee Donghyuck,” he waves at everyone. “My favorite book is _Peter Pan._ ” 

Mark laughs. “Our _taste.”_

Donghyuck lets something inappropriate bubble up in his head, but quickly pushes it to the side. He listens to Johnny next, who claims he’s read everything by John Green.

Donghyuck turns to the two who haven’t spoken. One of them looks around—a little nervous. “Hi, I’m Won Yukhei but everyone calls me Lucas. I don’t know why.” There’s a chorus of “Hi Lucas” that goes around. “My favorite book is the _Cat in the Hat_. I never, like, actually read the book. But! I watched the movie.”

“I don’t wanna be mean but,” Donghyuck leans over to Mark, “is he joking?”

Mark turns to him, wide-eyed and mouth open. “I...don’t know actually.”

A few more people filter into the room, filling in the gaps as they introduce themselves. It’s awkward, but Donghyuck watches the smile that crosses Mark’s face as more and more students join in. Some stand by the table with the soju, pouring themselves drinks as they listen to everyone’s introductions. 

The last person is someone who came in with Johnny and Lucas, he’s an international student like Johnny. “Hey gang,” off to a bad start already, “I’m Yuta. My favorite book is _Lizard.”_

“Just... _Lizard?_ ” Donghyuck asks.

“Yeah, it’s called _Lizard_ by Banana Yoshimoto _._ It’s a good read.” 

“I’ve read that book!” Mark nods, then to Donghyuck he says, “It’s a collection of short stories; it’s really insightful. If anyone has any recommendations or books they’d like us to read together during Lit Club, let me know! For now, I’ve got a bunch of core books that would be really interesting to read together.”

Donghyuck spaces out, focusing on the way Mark smiles at all of them excitedly as he goes over the club’s syllabus. This club has a goddamn _syllabus._

He can feel a migraine coming on in the form of his roommates’ laughter.

Mark finishes going over their reading list and starts handing out the books he brought. 

The group starts the reading, Mark enthusiastic as he narrates the story. Donghyuck is barely hanging onto the words on the page when he suddenly notices that people are leaving. 

While Mark is reading. Donghyuck turns to Mark, whose expression falters just a bit with every person who shuts the door behind them. 

Mark reads just a few pages into _Norwegian Wood_ before he closes off the chapter with a tight-lipped smile. “What did you all think of it?”

Donghyuck looks around. Everyone who had been there during the introduction has suddenly disappeared. It’s...pretty shitty, actually. 

“I thought it was really good,” Donghyuck bullshits quickly. “I...really like his diction?”

Mark perks up. “Right?”

Okay, thank _god_ he learned something in his literature classes back in secondary school. 

Johnny nodded along, “Yeah, his style is pretty simple but intuitive. It’s pleasant.”

“So far, I think Noako is a really interesting character. She’s very fascinated with things, like...the ‘well’ and its symbolism for death—” Mark laughs and _Why is he laughing? “—_ I’d like to see more of why Toru is so devoted to her.”

“To be honest,” Donghyuck begins, after a quick Naver search behind his book, “Toru is _kind of a simp_. But that’s just me.”

Mark whips his head to look at Donghyuck, his mouth forming an ‘o’ shape as a cackle escapes his lips. “You’re right. _He totally is.”_

Donghyuck lets a sigh of relief escape his lips. He watches Mark tie up the meeting. He tunes in after Mark goes over a few other books. 

“Um, I don’t know how to say this without being cheesy,” Mark laughs shortly. “It just means a lot that you all came here...and stayed.” Mark looks toward the door and Donghyuck looks down at his feet guiltily for thinking of leaving. “Like, I know this kind of club isn’t for everyone. But it makes me happy knowing that there are people out here who love literature as much as I do. So, like. Yeah, I appreciate you guys.”

— 

“So,” Donghyuck starts the second his roommate gets back from classes. “How was your day, sweetie?”

“Gross.” Renjun turns to look at him suspiciously. “What do you want?”

Donghyuck hums to himself, pretending to make something as he boils water in a pot. “I don’t know...maybe like,” he pauses, glaring, “your honesty, you _traitor!”_

“I take it you figured out Lit Club wasn’t actually a club where you get ‘lit’.”

Donghyuck grabs the paper towel roll on the counter and promptly throws it at Renjun. Renjun, of course, dodges it narrowly. “What am I going to do now, huh?”

“You could just quit. Y’know, like a normal person.”

“I can’t.” Donghyuck groans. “The president of the club is so cute. And a dork. And he worked so hard to put the club together, I’d feel... bad. If I left, I mean.”

“Donghyuck, who are you kidding? You don’t know how to read.”

“I know, I know.” Donghyuck shakes his head. “But...you do.”

“No.” Renjun immediately rushes to their shared room. Donghyuck follows quickly after him, stopping the door being shut with his shoulder as he pushes it open. 

“Have you happened to read _Norwegian Wood_ by Murakami?”

“Wow, Mark-hyung’s making you read that? Bold choice.” 

Donghyuck grins, “So you have!”

Renjun gasps, covering his mouth. “I didn’t say that.”

“It’s implied,” Donghyuck shrugs. “Listen. I will literally buy you dinner twice a week for the next three months...if you give me material to say during these book clubs.”

“Why don’t you just use Naver?” Renjun groans. “All of the analyses are literally at your fingertips!”

“It’s funnier bugging you though,” Donghyuck whines back. “Please. Think of all the fried chicken you can order.”

“You’ll buy me chicken?” Renjun seems to still. “Even if you have to wait in line for hours at that one place in Hongdae?”

Donghyuck considers this for a moment, nearly backing down. Then he recalls the look on Mark’s face. Oh god. It’s worth it. “Yes,” he says decisively. “Yeah, I don’t mind waiting in line for your stupid chicken.”

“First of all, never call fried chicken stupid,” Renjun kicks him in the shin. “Second, you’ve got yourself a deal.”

— 

The week passes by in a flurry. Donghyuck’s chest flutters with anxiety as he walks into the liberal arts building again. 

Mark is setting up a stack of books by his side as he arranges the chairs in the circular formation. He notices Donghyuck and grins. “Hey, you made it!” 

Donghyuck feels his nerves fade away, his face falling into a natural smile. “Yeah, my class got cut short.”

Okay, he may or may not have ditched it for the second week in a row, but it was just an elective, he’ll make it up later in the quarter.

Mark gives him a knowing look. “Y’know, I’m one of the TAs for your creative writing professor.”

It’s like someone poured a bucket of ice down his shirt. _Oh shit._ Mark _knows._

“Chill, dude, I’m not a narc.” Mark laughs, a grin stretching over his face. “But, I think you should go to your next class. The professor’s going to give a pop quiz next week that you should probably be there for.”

“My god, you nearly gave me a heart attack.” Donghyuck huffs, nudging Mark over playfully.

“The look on your face, man.” Mark laughs clutching his sides. “You’re so red.”

“Shut _up.”_

Donghyuck’s response only bolsters Mark’s laughter. “That’s how you talk to your elders? Show your hyung some respect!”

Donghyuck mimics his voice, sticking his tongue out as he flops into the seat Mark pulled out for their group. “Anyway, when’s the rest of the group coming? I have a few things to say about _Norwegian Wood_ that I’m dying to talk about.” 

It’s true. 

He spent hours memorizing what Renjun told him about the analysis of the story. It was extremely dark. Donghyuck may or may not have shed a few tears. 

“No, remember the syllabus?” Mark gives him a weird look. “We read a different book every week.”

Donghyuck panics for a split second, then does his best to keep his expression neutral. Fuck. _Fuck._

Maybe syllabi are important. 

“Ah, that’s right. So we’re reading…?”

Mark shakes his head with a laugh. “It’s a short story called _Genesis,_ by Jeon Samhye.”

Humming, Donghyuck turns toward Mark. “I’ve never heard of it. Should I have?”

“I was just, like, scrolling through my social media when I found it,” Mark hums to himself. “I saw a writing competition? And then, like, I checked out the grand prize winning piece and it really struck a chord with me I guess.” 

Donghyuck nods his head, pulling out his phone nonchalantly as he internally lets out a stream of curses. It was a single piece, not much has been written about it or even summarized besides a few interviews with the author. 

Sinking into his seat, Donghyuck realizes he might actually have to _think_ during this session. And that’s the last thing he wants to do right now. 

“Don’t worry, I brought everyone a copy of it.” Mark pats Donghyuck’s shoulder. “It’s pretty hard to find, but I managed to snag the PDF version online!”

“Great,” Donghyuck smiles. Maybe it’ll be worth seeing Mark’s excited face.

The rest of the Lit Club’s members come in together, all of them seemingly less pumped than the last meeting. 

Mark quickly hands them the printed packet copy of the literature. “I hope you like this piece, guys. I, ah… It hits close to home, I guess?” He laughs quietly. “But let me know your thoughts afterward! I’m excited to hear what y’all have to say about it.”

Mark starts the story, a smile on his face quickly morphing into something more solemn. Donghyuck tries to focus on the words of the pages in front of him, but all he wants to focus on are the lines of Mark’s face--the curve of his lips and the way his tongue darts out to run over them. 

Donghyuck lets himself be taken to this faraway place that Mark narrates, wonders what it would be like to be marooned in the desolate iciness of space. He listens to Mark’s voice, entranced, but not clearly hearing the words that are spoken. 

It sounds poignant, poetic, almost. He wants to look at the other members’ expressions as well, so not to make it seem blatantly obvious that he’s so clearly checking out the club president, but he literally cannot tear his gaze away from Mark. 

He hears one of the other members sniffle, and it finally snaps him out of his daze. He sees tears rolling down Johnny’s face. Johnny is staring at his shoes, trying to cover his eyes.

But he’s not the only one crying. Yuta’s got his whole body turned away from them, eyes red and glassy with unshed tears. 

Lucas is the only one with his head burrowed in the text, brows drawn together in what appears to be confusion. 

Mark continues on without missing a beat. Donghyuck does note that that telltale smile is back on his face. 

Donghyuck tunes back into the story to catch the last bit, flipping his pages discreetly. 

_“_ _I’ll be leaving to meet you, my world._ _  
  
_

_They say God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Whereas I will have rested for six days before creating my fictional world. But in it, I will make you into the world’s happiest, most brilliant person. So good-bye. I will delete everything I’ve written thus far. And a new story will begin._

_You were my world, and so I give you, too, a world.”_

Mark flips the packet back to the first page, a giant grin on his face as he looks around the room. “Well, did you guys like it?”

_“Fuck you!”_ Yuta yells back. “How could you read that to us?”

Johnny wipes his face with the sleeve of his shirt. “What the fuck, man?”

Mark doubles over, clutching his stomach. “Jesus Christ, hyung, the second you started crying...Oh my _god._ I almost had to stop reading.”

Johnny shakes his head. “Why was it so sad?”

Donghyuck quickly flips through the pages, pretending to notate his favorite lines. But he goes back to that last bit that Mark read. 

“Donghyuck-ssi, what’d you think?” Mark asks eagerly. 

_You were my world, and so I give you, too, a world._

“It was really...I don’t know how to say it…” he really doesn’t, considering he wasn’t paying attention to 80% of the story. “It was...a masterful display of the written language. I’m just...floored. I have no words.”

_“Right?”_ Mark agrees, over the moon at Donghyuck’s half-assed review.

_Nailed it._

“I think it really captures the youthful experience— the pining, the bittersweetness of loving someone so far out of your reach— it was just… really beautiful, in my opinion.”

“Wait,” Lucas suddenly whispers. “She liked her friend? She was gay the whole time?” He looks up at everyone with this realization, eyes bright. 

“Yeah, remember?” Yuta says, slowly. “It said that in the summary.”

“Ohh. Got it, got it,” Lucas says, nodding his head sagely. “I like that she was, like, in _space.”_

“Yes!” Mark nods his head. What a kind soul. “I don’t typically read science fiction, but the premise itself and the setting was what really set this story apart for me. Like, it was just very refreshing to read.”

Donghyuck nods his head, feigning understanding. He tries to wrangle his expression into something that clearly isn’t boredom. 

The group discusses it a bit more, Mark delving deeper into the story than any of the rest of them. But Donghyuck is content just listening. Mark is passionate in the way where everything he says is interesting. 

No, Mark isn’t the most eloquent person Donghyuck knows, but he certainly is...the most excitable— in a good way.

Donghyuck covers the smile forming on his lips. Mark is talking about gay oppression and he feels maybe now isn’t the best time to be so ‘heart-eyes’ over the guy. 

“Thanks for coming to this meeting, everyone.” Mark winds down the club session with a content sigh. “I’m not gonna lie, I was a little nervous about this one, but you’ve all been wildly accepting and _super_ open-minded and I appreciate that.”

Donghyuck thinks he missed something, but he decides to speak up anyway. “That was brave of you. We appreciate you sharing something so personal.”

Mark turns to him with a look of surprise. Donghyuck feels a little bad. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. But then the softest expression falls over Mark’s face. 

“Thank you,” he says. 

Oh _god._ The words feel like a pile-drive to his chest. He will spew literally any bullshit that comes to his mind if it means Mark will look at him like that again. 

The club ends with a few words about the next meeting, but Mark keeps sending Donghyuck pointed looks. “I’ll see you all next week, except Donghyuck-ssi, who has a pop quiz to study for seeing as though he’s skipped all of his classes.”

A chorus of ‘Ooooooooohs’ comes from the stupid trio sitting across from him. He narrows his eyes at them, before turning back to Mark. “It’s only so I could see your pretty face again, hyung. How could I resist?” He says it so sweetly too. 

Mark sputters out a response that Donghyuck can’t quite make out over Johnny, Lucas and Yuta’s scandalized gasps. 

_“Oh my god!”_ Johnny yells while Yuta jumps out of his seat. “This development!!”

Mark shoos them out of the room. He laughs as he begs them to quit so he can clean up (despite their whistles and cheers for Donghyuck to— and he quotes, ‘make a move’). 

Donghyuck stays behind to help Mark rearrange the desks. It takes all but two minutes, but he wants to spend as much time with Mark as he can. 

Mark’s face is a little red from laughing or Donghyuck’s words, he can’t tell. But it sparks something in Donghyuck. 

“Hey, Mark-ssi?”

“Oh, so I’m Mark-ssi now, huh?” Mark smiles slyly. “Just a second ago I was your hyung. Was it all for show?”

“I dunno,” Donghyuck cackles. “Do you want it to be for show?”

Mark seems to contemplate this for a moment, humming as he fights back a smile. He puts a few packets left behind by the others in his folder and packs it into his backpack. “I don’t mind, y’know. If you call me hyung,” he laughs. “I’d like it, actually. I think...yeah.”

Donghyuck feels his chest thumping hard. “Ah, okay then, hyung. Whatever you want.”

Mark shakes his head, fully grinning. 

They walk out the building together, chatting about their classes before they’re about to part ways.

Donghyuck’s phone buzzes in his pocket mid conversation. It’s Renjun. He looks at Mark apologetically and picks up. 

“Hey, what’s up?”

“You better bring me my damn fried chicken tonight or else I will _End You_.”

“What?” Donghyuck snorts. “Is that a threat?”

“It’s a promise,” Renjun says seriously. “I stayed up until two trying to help you—”

“Ah, ah, ah!” Donghyuck interrupts him with a nervous laugh. “Okay, I’ll pick something up for you. The wait will be a bit long, is that okay?”

“That’s fine,” Renjun sighs. “I won’t be back for a few hours anyway.”

“Got it, bye!” Donghyuck hangs up quickly. He really doesn’t wanna know what crawled up Renjun’s ass today. 

Then, a great idea comes to mind.

“Hey, Mark-hyung,” Donghyuck begins, “Wanna get dinner with me?”

— 

The line stretches out to the street when they finally get to the restaurant. Mark makes a noise of disbelief at the waitlist. “How hungry are you?” Donghyuck asks. 

Mark shrugs. “I could wait, but...there’s this restaurant close by that makes bomb kimchi stew...if you’re down.”

Donghyuck grins. “Sure, let me place a to-go order for my roommate from here and then we can head over there.”

“Sick!” Mark fist pumps, laughing. “I’ll be real, I did not want to wait to be seated.”

Donghyuck chuckles to himself quietly, placing a to-go order online.

The food comes out much quicker when they’re not trying to be seated. Mark quickly grabs a hold of Donghyuck’s sleeve and they weave their way through the crowded sidewalk, Donghyuck clutching the chicken to his chest. 

The restaurant Mark leads them to is a dingy little hole-in-the-wall that Donghyuck can appreciate. The inside is homey- it has a mom and pop feel to it that fills Donghyuck with warmth. 

They’re seated quickly, greeted by the server before Mark waves away the menu and quickly orders for them. “Trust me, the kimchi stew is _the_ move. Plus, you’re freezing,” Mark chides softly. “Your nose is red.”

Mark shrugs off his jacket and passes it over to Donghyuck. Donghyuck’s eyes widen. “No, no. Hyung, it’s fine. You’ll be cold.”

With a roll of his eyes, Donghyuck pushes the jacket off and gives it back to Mark. 

“Stubborn, huh?” Mark laughs. “Fine. But when you get sick, don’t come crying to me about how your hyung didn’t take care of you.”

Donghyuck sticks his tongue out at him as the food is set in front of them. The server gives Donghyuck a look of judgement, but he pays no mind to them. 

Mark shakes his head, quickly digging into his meal. 

“What do you do for fun around campus?” Donghyuck finds himself asking. He feels like he knows the answer, but he decides to ask anyway.

“I mostly just read, to be honest. My roommates and I used to hang out, but since they’ve graduated, they’re mostly just working right now…” There’s a lilt in his voice toward the end that Donghyuck might not have caught if he weren’t paying attention.

“Don’t they have time on the weekends though?”

Mark hums, looking a little bit uncomfortable. “They mostly spend time just the two of them now— they’re a couple...Not that I mind!!” He corrects quickly. “It’s just different. I’m happy for them.”

“But...you feel left out,” Donghyuck adds, understandingly. Mark nods. “I get it.”

There’s a stretch of silence between them. Donghyuck is afraid he’s ruined the mood with his nosiness. He’s about to start apologizing when Mark interrupts his thoughts.

“I guess that’s why I liked the story so much,” Mark says. “Genesis? The one we read today.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I feel nothing but familial love for them now. But, in the past...Y’know how things are when you’re young and you admire the people older than you.”

Donghyuck can’t say it’s a relatable feeling, but then he looks at Mark. He takes a good look at him. And maybe he does get it. “Yeah. Some people are pretty remarkable.”

Their gazes meet for a moment. Mark stares at Donghyuck, questioning. Donghyuck sends him back a look much more resolute. 

Mark coughs, covering a smile. “Sorry, I don’t really know what came over me. I don’t know why I said all that shit. But, ah. Thanks, for listening, I mean.”

“Are you lonely, hyung?”

Mark obviously tries to cover the awkward question with a laugh. “I don’t know? Maybe? Who knows? Are you?”

Donghyuck moves back in his seat, taking a bite of his food. He considers it. He has his roommates, Renjun, his siblings, his parents. 

“Sometimes.”

“I think that sometimes I am too.” Mark lifts a spoonful of stew to his lips. 

Donghyuck taps his foot against Mark’s under the table. “Well, I don’t think either of us have to be anymore.”

Mark sputters, spilling his stew on the table as Donghyuck laughs. “That was...forward. You’re something else, aren’t you?”

Donghyuck shrugs. 

“What do you do?” Mark asks instead. 

“Like, besides being annoying as fuck?” 

Mark tosses his head back, laughing. “You’re not!”

“I promise you, I’m showing you my good side. I’m really trying to be tame right now.”

“Really?” Mark quips. “It doesn’t show…”

“Rude!” Donghyuck gasps, feigning offense. “I like to perform.”

“Perform?”

“Yeah, like...I sing and play instruments sometimes. I just...really love being on stage. Is it weird to say that I like having an audience? A bitch lives for drama, I guess.”

“I don’t think it’s weird?” Mark asks more than he says. “You seem like someone who’s really outspoken about how you feel. It’s a great way to like, I don’t know, channel your energy or whatever.”

“Yeah!” Donghyuck agrees, suddenly excited. “It’s lame, I guess, but conveying how I’m feeling through words and actions...that’s what I love doing. It makes me happy.”

“Can you do it for me?”

“What?” 

“Perform. For me.”

“Just... you?” 

Mark nods in response.

Donghyuck doesn’t really get nervous, not about performing. But Mark...Mark is making him a little nervous. 

“Maybe next time.”

Mark smiles shyly. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“You’ll hold me?” Donghyuck asks, scandalized. “Wow, and I thought you said I was the forward one?”

Mark rolls his eyes, but Donghyuck can see the amusement in Mark’s expression clear as day. 

“By any chance, do you like poetry?”

Donghyuck doesn’t even process what was being asked before he replies. “Yeah, love it all.”

The server comes back with the check and Mark insists on paying. (“A man after my heart.” Mark flushes, but he laughs it off.)

They leave the restaurant, although it takes a bit of pushing from the server. Donghyuck realizes, as they’re walking...he doesn’t want to go home. He looks at Mark, who’s talking once again about his favorite genre of literature. 

“Fantasy is just so good! Like...you could literally be anything. You wanna be a dragon? You could _be_ a dragon!”

Donghyuck grins, stupidly. “Dragons are overrated.” He says it just to start shit. 

It works. 

“Did you just say what I _think_ you said?”

They bicker about mythical creatures for a few minutes before Donghyuck finally relents, admitting _Fine, yeah. Dragons are kind of cool. You happy now, you giant baby?_

“I should probably head out now,” Donghyuck says reluctantly. “My roommate literally threatened to kill me if I don’t have his chicken by the time he’s home.”

“I can walk you back. It’s getting dark.”

“Isn’t it a bit far from where you’re at?”

Mark shrugs. “I don’t mind. I want to.”

_Be still, my beating heart._ Donghyuck tries to calm himself. He settles for a polite, _Sure,_ while his insides feel like they’re doing backflips.

The train is near empty but Donghyuck is hyper aware of the fact that Mark’s thigh is pressed right up against his when they sit together. He shows Mark a few pictures, Mark curious about Donghyuck’s social media.

His face lights up when Donghyuck follows him back on Instagram and Twitter. 

Donghyuck has never found someone _this_ cute.

When they finally hop off the train, Mark insists on walking him all the way up to his door. He’s huffing by the time he makes it up the stairs. 

“I told you, my elevator’s broken.”

“Okay, but you did not tell me you lived on the _fifth_ floor.”

Donghyuck laughs, pulling out his keys. “You coming in?” 

For a moment, Mark looks like he’s about to say yes. But his face falls. “I should probably get going. But I’ll see you after next week?” 

Donghyuck tries not to let disappointment cross his face. “Yeah. I’ll text you.”

“Cool.” Mark nods, looking a little nervous. “Um. I had a lot of fun with you tonight.”

“Me too.”

The door swings open. “What are you crazy kids doing out here?”

“Renjun-ah?” 

“Hi, hyung,” Renjun says, leaning against the door. “You took good care of our little Donghyuck tonight? Nothing too inappropriate, I hope.”

Mark stares at him, a flush creeping up his cheeks. “I mean. No?”

“Hm.” Renjun gives him a once over, then turns to Donghyuck. “You got the goods?”

Donghyuck is going to strangle him. He pushes the take out into Renjun’s arms. “I hate you,” he stage-whispers.

“Well, it was nice seeing you Renjun.” Mark clears his throat. He looks at Donghyuck, a small smile playing at his lips. “I’ll, uh. I’ll text you.”

Donghyuck nods his head quickly. “Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks for walking me home.”

“Yeah, any time.”

Mark turns around to leave, after giving them both a wave goodbye.

Not a second passes before Renjun is pulling him into their apartment.

“What the actual _fuck_ was that??” Renjun practically screams.

“Are you dating Mark Lee?” It’s Jeno who asks, jaw dropped wide open.

Jaemin is sitting on the couch, looking like he hasn’t slept in a week (which he probably hasn’t). He looks on with mild interest. “What’s going on now?”

“I don’t know, oh my god!” Donghyuck shouts back. 

“Oh, you totally know,” Jeno laughs. “Renjun and I were watching you from the peephole in the door. You were blushing like virgins on your wedding night.”

“God, disgusting,” Renjun agrees, digging into the takeout of chicken.

Donghyuck scoffs. He reaches for a wing, but Renjun slaps his hand away with a hiss.

“Okay, so I might like him.”

“Yeah, no shit. Even Jaemin knows that, and he’s, like, asleep right now.”

“No, I’m not,” Jaemin says, half-dead.

Jeno grabs a piece of chicken from the takeout box. “Why do you look like that then…?”

“Please go to the doctor, you look bad,” Renjun says.

“What do I do?” Donghyuck whines, flopping next to Jaemin on the couch. “He’s like...into books and shit? How am I supposed to impress him?”

“You’re so _dumb_ , oh my god.”

“I think it’s kinda stupid to lie about liking books.” Jeno huffs. “It seems like he already likes you.”

Donghyuck makes a noncommittal noise, wondering if maybe his roommates have a point. But they’re also dumb as fuck so there’s that.

It’s not until he’s in bed that the guilt starts to settle in. He sighs, staring at his ceiling, twitching when his phone buzzes with a text.

**11:23PM  
** **Mark-hyung**   
_Hey! Just got home annnddd I wanted to let you know that I had a really good time today hahaha. Hope we can do it again sometime haha_

God. 

Oh god. 

It takes him a few minutes to collect himself. 

**11:30PM  
** **to Mark-hyung  
** _i had a good time today too. :) goodnight, hyung!_

— 

Things are a bit different after that. They text more frequently, nearly every day, even.

Donghyuck feels...really good about where they’re at. He thinks Mark might feel the same. 

His class takes up time, so he can’t make it to every full meeting, but he does try to leave class early to catch Mark toward the end. They go out together most times, after club.

They’re at a twenty-four hour cafe in Hongdae— Donghyuck is sipping on something sickly sweet as Mark munches down on some type of sandwich he ordered. He has his laptop open in front of him, adorned with stickers. He’s typing away while Donghyuck admires the look of concentration Mark’s got going on.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Mark finally notices.

Donghyuck shrugs. “You’ve got mustard on your lip. There’s some lettuce in your teeth too.”

“Wait, actually?”

“Nah, I just like fucking with you.” Mark kicks him under the table. Donghyuck laughs.

“I have an idea for our next club meeting.”

“What is it?” Donghyuck asks, curious.

Mark bites his lip. “Tell me if you think this is dumb?”

“It won’t be, but sure.”

“I’m thinking we could have something like a writing workshop? Is that stupid?”

“I think it’s a good idea. It could be fun!” 

But it could also be a disaster. 

Donghyuck can’t stop himself from laughing at the idea of Lucas _writing._

“Yeah?” Mark asks excitedly. “I’ll get some resources we can use for it then.”

\--

Donghyuck was not wrong when he thought the writing session would be a disaster. Mark was incredibly passionate, while the rest of them struggled with words on paper for thirty minutes before Mark suggested some of them (Lucas) make haikus or short poems instead.

“We should read them out loud,” Yuta suggests, clearly enjoying the way Johnny struggles. “Maybe bounce ideas off each other?”

Donghyuck catches Johnny glaring at him. _Fuck you,_ Johnny mouths at his friend.

“Hell yeah, that sounds great!” Mark exclaims. He’s buzzing with excitement. 

Donghyuck looks down at his blank sheet of paper he’s been pretending to write. He also mouths, _Fuck you,_ at Yuta. 

“Can I go first?” Lucas asks. 

Everyone turns to him with wide eyes. “Really?” Johnny asks. “You sure you wanna do that to yourself, bud?”

Lucas makes a noncommittal noise before he starts telling his story.

It’s really, really, really bad.

Donghyuck pretends to take a call, leaving in the middle of it to go outside and laugh for a full minute.

When he gets back, Johnny and Yuta are both covering their mouths. Mark stares at the ground in shock just as Lucas finishes.

“Man, that good, huh? I can’t believe I missed it.”

“Oh,” Lucas says easily. “I can tell it again, if you want?”

“No!” Mark quickly shakes his head. “It’s his loss, but we’re short on time and we gotta...let everyone speak.”

Johnny and Yuta nod their heads in agreement. 

Yuta writes a story about eating a birthday cake. (“It’s a euphemism for eating ass.”

“Yeah, we got it.”)

Johnny’s is actually pretty sweet. It’s about two siblings who separate once they go to college. Donghyuck likes it, but he’s trying to think of something to say for his story, so he barely pays attention.

“I only wrote a brief outline,” Donghyuck admits.

“That’s okay,” Mark grins. “What’s it about?”

Donghyuck describes the story quickly, trying to embellish where he can. “...And that’s how he joins the Italian mob.”

“Are you...describing the plot to an anime?”

“I’m pretty sure you just described _One Piece_ , dude. Like, almost exactly.”

Now that Yuta mentions it, he’s almost certain he took the idea from _Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure_. He vaguely remembers working on a paper at 3AM while Renjun streamed it one night. 

Mark goes last, and of course his story is this fantastical wonderland. He gives a summary of it, since he admits to having been working on it for a few weeks now.

Overall, the meeting goes pretty well, all things considered. 

Donghyuck crashes onto his bed the second he gets back to his apartment. It’s been a long week, but he’s glad he got to end it by seeing Mark at Lit Club. 

His phone buzzes four times. It’s from Mark. He had a custom vibration set for him, at Mark’s request, of course.

**7:22PM  
** **Mark-hyung  
** _Yooo Donghyuck-ah, are you busy tomorrow night? haha_

**7:22PM  
** **to Mark-hyung  
** _no im not lol why what's up, hyung?_

**7:24PM  
** **Mark-hyung  
** _I was wondering if you’d be down to go out with me?_

Haechan swears he almost passes out. Like a date, _date?_ They’ve never officially gone out.

He gets another text.

**7:24PM  
** **Mark-hyung  
** _A few friends are doing like this gathering hahahaha wanted to know if you’d wanna come with. Like performing in front of people and stuff idk I thought it might be your jam haha_

Dammit.

**7:25PM  
** **to Mark-hyung  
** _yeah!! for sure i’m cool with that :) do you want me to pick you up at your place?_

**7:26PM  
** **Mark-hyung  
** _Don’t worry about it. I can pick you up around 7? It’s on the way to the coffeehouse_

**7:26PM  
** **to Mark-hyung  
** _yeah, sure sounds good. see you tomorrow hyung_

**7:27PM  
** **Mark-hyung  
** _Cool haha see you_

  
  
  


Donghyuck is waiting outside his apartment building when Mark pulls up in a beat up Hyundai, waving at him to get inside.

Mark beams at him as he slides into the passenger seat. He looks a bit more done up today, Donghyuck notes as he examines the form-fitted slacks and coat. 

Donghyuck tries not to swoon too hard. “Am I underdressed?” 

Mark gives his outfit a glance. “You look cute.”

That shuts him up quite well.

They pull up to the coffeehouse and park. From the outside, it looks like it’ll be a tame night. But the second they step it, the place is entirely different. There are tables of people, a spotlight toward the back of the coffeehouse where there’s someone reciting what seems to be...poetry.

“Mark-ah, you made it!” Comes someone’s voice. “Just in time. We got the mic warmed up for you and everything.”

“Hi, hyung,” Mark laughs, letting himself be pulled into a hug. 

“And who is this?” the man asks. He’s tall and quite pretty. Donghyuck feels… He doesn’t know what to feel, but he knows a fellow gay when he sees one. He holds Mark’s arm a little closer. 

“I’m Lee Donghyuck.” He bows politely. “Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, you’re _Lee Donghyuck._ ” The man gives Mark a pointed look, a smirk creeping on his lips. “I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Taeyong, one of Mark’s roommates.”

_So this is the roommate._

Donghyuck glances at Mark, who laughs by his side bashfully. “Likewise, hyung.”

“Well, we’re really excited for tonight. Can’t wait to see what you have in store for us.”

Donghyuck cocks his head to the side. Taeyong sees someone else he knows, waving them down as he leaves the two of them.

“What did he mean by that?” Donghyuck asks. He thinks he knows. God. No, he knows what Mark’s done. “Mark? What’d he mean by that?”

Mark can’t hide his smile anymore. “It was supposed to be a surprise, but hyung ruined it.” He pulls them to their reserved booth and beams at Donghyuck. “I signed you up for open mic,” he laughs. “I mean, you told me you like poetry and expressing your emotions through words and actions for an audience, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity for you!”

Donghyuck can’t even find the gall in himself to be upset with Mark. It was sweet, but so, so, so stupid. Oh god. He doesn’t know a damn thing about poetry.

“Relax, just think back to the writing session we had last week! Remember? You told me poetry was a second language to you. You got this.” Mark nudges him encouragingly.

Had he said that? _God._ He deserves this.

“This...is sudden. It’s really sudden.”

“Hey.” Mark pauses. He places a reassuring hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think too much when I signed you up. But you don’t have to if it’s uncomfortable.”

Donghyuck sighs, relieved. “I’ll see how I’m feeling.” All Donghyuck really thinks of is how he’s going to convince Renjun to write a poem for him within the next fifteen minutes. 

Mark rubs his back. “Sure. But seriously, no pressure.” 

They’re sitting close together. The coffeehouse is dark and someone is performing a slam poem about global warming. Donghyuck thinks it couldn’t be more romantic. He leans in against Mark, scooting much closer. 

Mark makes a little coughing sound. Donghyuck makes fun of him for the way his cheeks flush red.

The poet on stage is done with their set, handing off the mic to the MC. “That was great! Let’s give it up for Doyoung and whatever the fuck that was!” 

The room erupts with snaps. “Next up, we have a personal favorite of ours blessing us with his presence. Come on up, Mark Lee!”

Donghyuck’s eyes widen as he turns to Mark. Mark looks at him, a little embarrassed. “Gotta go, hope you like it.”

He doesn’t even get a word out before people are chanting Mark’s name, and he’s whisked away to the stage. 

“Hi, I’m Mark. I’m just...gonna freestyle, haha. Hope you like it.” 

He’s a dork. He’s such a dork and Donghyuck _likes_ him. 

If any of his roommates were here they’d give him so much shit for this. 

_Please don’t be embarrassing_ , he prays. 

If anyone laughs at Mark, or makes fun of him in any way, Donghyuck swears he might take someone’s head off. 

But as soon as Mark brings the mic to his lips, Donghyuck’s mouth falls open. 

He watches Mark on stage with laser focus. One moment Mark is dorky and sweet and nervous, but then... he does a complete one-eighty. 

Mark commands the audience with his stage presence, his diction incredible as he works the stage with vigor. Donghyuck is floored. It’s a slam poetry event, but Mark is just _rapping._

And it fits. 

Donghyuck can’t for the life of him look away. Mark locks eyes with him from the stage. The look he gives Donghyuck sends a wave of shock through his body. There’s a smugness in his expression, his movements. 

It’s so different from what Donghyuck is used to seeing from him. 

He loves it.

Mark ends his set with a short bow, quickly handing the mic off to the MC and rushing over to Donghyuck.

“What’d you think?”

“I cannot believe you hid that talent from me.” Donghyuck shakes his head. “I feel robbed that I haven’t heard you rap before! You were so good, holy shit.”

“You think?” Mark laughs. “I’m glad...I was a bit nervous.”

“You hid it well. You secretly an actor?”

Mark leans back in his seat. “I think, maybe, I just wanted to impress you.”

“Oh.” Donghyuck stares at him, perhaps a beat too long. He can feel the heat rush up his face. “Do you...do you wanna come back to my place?”

Mark freezes completely. “Uh.”

Donghyuck quickly continues, “N-Not like that! I mean, I’d just...I wanna spend time alone with you right now. Wait— that sounds wrong too—”

They don’t get to finish their conversation. “—next up we have Lee Donghyuck!”

“Wait,” Donghyuck says, slowly, “What?”

“Fuck.” Mark presses the palm of his hand to his forehead. “I forgot to tell him to take you off the list—“

“Uh.”

The light lands on their table. 

“I can tell them right now—“

But the crowd is already chanting for Donghyuck to come up. 

Alright. Donghyuck officially wants to die. The MC calls him up one more time.

He’s doing this. 

Reluctantly, he drags himself onto the stage, sending everyone in the room a giant idol-like smile. People are cheering him on. 

Well, time to embarrass himself.

“Green...eggs...and...ham…”

The silence is deafening. He continues, painfully. Donghyuck can hear Mark guffawing from halfway across the room as he continues. It’s not poetry, not anywhere near it.

He can’t stop the stream of bullshit coming from his lips. At one point, he just starts naming every fruit he can think of. Then for some reason he starts naming animals, then cars, then his favorite food. 

It’s a train wreck.

“...the end.”

The claps are sparse, but he hears loud whistling coming from his and Mark’s table, and that’s good enough for him. He bows to the audience and heads off the stage with confidence.

Maybe it’s fine to embarrass himself once in a while. As long as it makes Mark smile, he doesn’t think he cares all too much. 

They stay for a few more people’s sets before Mark leans in and says, “So, what was that about me coming over?”

Donghyuck grins from ear to ear. He tugs on Mark’s sleeve and gestures for them to go.

\--

“What movie do you want to watch?” Donghyuck asks when they finally settle in on his bed. He’s got his laptop hooked up to their tiny projector, hot chocolate in hand with a few marshmallows in it. 

“Hm, something funny maybe? Not too sure.”

They settle on some animated movie Mark asked to play. Donghyuck puts it on, but he can’t really seem to focus on it, even if the art is pretty. 

  
“You didn’t tell me what you thought of my performance,” Donghyuck says.

“It was _so_ bad.” Mark laughs, his head colliding with the wall. It barely fazes him. “But it was fun to watch. I like seeing you making a fool of yourself.”

“Wow,” Donghyuck snorts. “Alright, dick.”

“Aw,” Mark topples over, head falling to rest in Dongyhuck’s lap. “Don’t worry, I still like you.” Donghyuck feels his heartbeat pick up. Mark is...he’s way too close.

Donghyuck swallows thickly. He takes a chance and starts to play with Mark’s hair. His fingers card through softly, twisting strands together as Mark laughs at the screen. 

Mark sits up, moving closer to Donghyuck at every chance he gets. Donghyuck follows suit. He leans over to Mark, ‘whispering’ stupid questions about the movie at any chance he gets. (“Which character is that again?” 

“Feng Xi, he’s kinda evil, I think.”)

By the time the credits begin to roll, Donghyuck is tracing shapes over the palm of Mark’s hand. He’s nestled in the crook of Mark’s neck and he really, really, really hopes Renjun doesn’t come home tonight because—

“Hey, have you seen—” The door bursts open, Renjun bounding in before he freezes. Donghyuck glares daggers at him. “...uh. Wrong apartment.” Renjun walks back out, awkwardly shutting the door behind him.

Groaning, Donghyuck facepalms. “Sorry. I should tell him he can come in.”

“No worries, I gotta get going anyway. I have to prepare for our next meeting.”

“Ah, the book signing right?” Donghyuck asks. It’s a pretty cool idea, actually. Mark’s been ranting about one of his favorite authors holding a reading at a bookstore in Itaewon, so the whole club agreed to go with Mark to get his book signed.

“Yeah! I’m super excited for it.” Mark laughs. “Thanks for coming with me today...Even though you sucked.”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “I was better than at least one person there, c’mon.”

“Debatable.”

Donghyuck walks Mark out, passing by Renjun who gives them both knowing looks. 

The second the door shuts behind Mark, Renjun just tsks. “Wow, you’re in deep, man.”

“I know,” Donghyuck agrees. 

— 

Today has been a little off for Donghyuck. 

It starts with breakfast: Jeno, haven eaten all his leftovers from the sullungtang place Donghyuck loves, leaves Donghyuck with nothing but the moldy bread at the bottom of his fridge.

Donghyuck barely scrapes by making it to his first lecture of the day, only to find out the classroom was locked with a note saying they would hold the lecture at the campus library. 

He has a pop quiz that apparently had been hinted at for the past three class meetings, but did anyone actually study for pop quizzes? Yes. People do, but Donghyuck is not one of them.

He barely manages a passing grade.

Now, he’s sitting inside the Lit Club room because Mark’s just sent a text saying he’d be late. 

Johnny comes in first, looking dopily pleased. Yuta follows closely behind him, a cup of tea in his hand as he sinks into the seat next to Donghyuck.

Lucas comes in a few minutes later, crashing into a desk because he’s preoccupied with looking at his phone. 

There’s a few moments of awkward silence before Yuta asks, “Where’s Mark?”

“Hyung is running late. We’re meeting here though so we can all take his car together.”

They all nod their head in response. 

God. This is so painful. Johnny twiddles his fingers in his lap. “So...did you like the book this week? _Please Look After Mom._ ” 

It’s shitty, he knows. He hasn’t even opened the cover, even though they’re literally about to go to the actual signing and meet the actual author. 

“To be honest,” Lucas starts, “I haven’t read a book since primary school and it was like Harry Potter. And I actually don’t even think I read it, now that we’re talking about it— No. I definitely watched the movie.”

“You haven’t read any of the books?”

“I read that one about space! But I think I only got to page five by the time you guys were done with it. I thought that this would be a drinking club...but I guess it isn’t? I just thought we’d get to drinking like...eventually.”

Donghyuck turns to him, eyes wide. “Oh my god, _same._ ”

Johnny and Yuta turn to each other before they nod their heads vigorously. “Holy shit, you too?”

“I keep frantically looking for the summaries online before showing up. I feel bad because Mark-ah is so into it!” 

“Wait…” Donghyuck says, after a moment of realization. “...Does anyone else actually like books here? Besides Mark?”

“Oh, _fuck_ no,” Johnny says. “Not even a little. It’s too late to quit now though.”

“It would be pretty sad if we all just...up and left now. Mark would have, like, no members,” Yuta comments.

“So you think pretending and lying to me is better?” 

Everyone goes stock still.

Donghyuck slowly turns his head to see Mark standing by the doorway. Mark isn’t even looking at them, but his grip on the books he’s holding is tight, knuckles completely white. 

“Dude…” Mark practically hisses. “That’s...this is so fucking mean.” He drops the books on a table with a loud _thud_ and walks out of the lecture hall.

“Hyung, wait!” Donghyuck doesn’t hesitate before he’s rushing out of the room to find him. Mark is sitting in front of the building with his head in his hands. 

Donghyuck comes closer to him, but Mark just puts a hand up. Donghyuck continues anyway. “It’s still fun being with you here. We still really— “

“Donghyuck,” Mark bites coldly, “Just stop. I need some space right now.”

“Are we still going to the signing?” Donghyuck asks.

Mark looks up at him. It’s awful. Donghyuck’s never seen Mark glare at him like this - like he’s nothing. “The hell do you think?”

“Right.” Donghyuck feels a lump in his throat. “Hyung, I’m really sorry.”

It’s all he manages to say before Mark scoffs at him and stands up to walk away.

Donghyuck wants to kick himself. 

He goes back in to tell the others what happened, but they’re already standing behind him. 

“Damn,” Johnny whispers. “That was rough to watch.”

“Did you guys just break up?” Yuta asks. He’s carrying the books Mark brought them, cradling them gently.

Donghyuck groans. 

“Don’t sweat it, we can all message him with our apologies,” Johnny says eventually. “It’s not like our intentions were ever, like, bad, y’know?”

It’s true. He figures there really wasn’t anything inherently bad about his purpose for joining and staying in the club. They’ll get through this. 

\--

Except they don’t. Not for the next two weeks, at least. Donghyuck gives Mark some space for a few days. Then a week passes with nothing from him. He sends a few texts, apologizing profusely (embarrassingly). 

Renjun has to take his phone away from him every night after midnight so he won’t say anything he’ll regret. 

“He said he needed space,” Renjun scolds him. “Give him space, idiot.”

Needless to say, Lit Club has been cancelled for the last two weeks. Donghyuck messages the rest of the members in their kakaotalk group chat. But they’ve heard nothing but radio silence from Mark. 

The third week arrives, and the four of them get an email from Mark. 

**Lit Club  
** **Johnny  
** **10:46AM  
** _Yo did you guys see that email tho?_

**Lit Club  
** **Lucas  
** **10:50AM  
** _uh, no. i haven’t checked my student email since my first semester lol_

**Lit Club  
** **Yuta  
** **10:50AM  
** _waiiiitttttt guys the meeting place is different?  
_ _donghyuck-ah, has he said anything to you?_

Donghyuck immediately grabs his computer to open his email. He filters through the hordes of unopened spam until he finds Mark’s. 

**Mark Lee** <mark.lee.0802@snu.edu>

to: lee.donghyuck.0606@snu.edu, wong.yukhei99@snu.edu, suh.johnny@snu.edu, nakamoto.yuta@snu.edu>

date: May 04, 2020, 9:54 AM

subject: Lit Club meeting

_Hey everyone,_

_The meeting this week will be a little bit different. Please meet at the Psychology building in the west quad at our normal meeting time._

_Thanks,_

_Mark_

  
  


Donghyuck’s a little disappointed. Not that he was expecting a personalized email or anything, but he does want some type of response. 

_I guess I just have to see him in person._

**Lit Club  
** **Donghyuck  
** **10:58AM  
** _nah, i just read the email.  
_ _he hasn’t texted me back yet though_

  
  


**Lit Club  
** **Yuta  
** **11:01AM  
** _ouch_

  
  


Donghyuck dresses to impress tonight (i.e., he doesn’t wear his crocs this time). 

He has something to prove to Mark. He has to show him how much he really _means_ to Donghyuck. 

There’s a bit of a crowd in front of the psych building, but Donghyuck pays it no mind, focused on the members of the Lit Club as he approaches. 

“What’s going on?” 

Johnny shrugs his shoulders. “No idea. Mark showed up a bit ago and told us to wait here until you showed up, so…”

Donghyuck looks around the crowd, eyes searching for Mark until he finally sees him.

“God, you look so sad,” Lucas says. 

Donghyuck turns back to Lucas with a deadpan look. 

“He’s coming over.” Yuta nudges him. “Stop looking like someone just killed your dog.” 

“This is just my face!” 

“Well make your face better!”

“Hey guys,” Mark says, half-jogging up to them. “So, I’m sorry for not reaching out to you. I realize that...there have been a lot of misunderstandings.” He laughs, not really meeting any of their eyes. “I know I’m partially to blame for that. But since we’re all in this club, I wanted to make it at least a _little_ fun for you guys.”

The group makes a noise of protest. “We do have fun with you,” Donghyuck says. Mark looks his way, but doesn’t say anything. His mouth twitches downward just a bit.

“Anyway, I arranged a social event between me and my cousin’s club. It’s not really a _‘rager’_ ,” Mark laughs, “but I hope you guys like it.”

“Holy shit!” Lucas exclaims. “Seriously?”

Johnny and Yuta high five. “Fucking _finally!”_

Donghyuck feels... _weird._ Mark hasn’t so much as glanced at him. He doesn’t know how he’s going to apologize in person, but he figures now might not be the best time anyway. He lets out a sigh and they all walk into the building together.

The place is filled with people, food and drinks lined up on a table against the back wall. Johnny and Lucas immediately make a run for it. 

Mark trails behind the rest of them, and when Donghyuck looks over his shoulder, Mark’s talking to someone else. Yuta pats Donghyuck’s shoulder encouragingly. “Just give him a little more time.”

“What is this?” Johnny suddenly appears and pulls Donghyuck over to the food and drink table. He looks visibly upset. “Taste this.”

He pushes the drink to Donghyuck’s lips. Donghyuck looks at the drink suspiciously, but he takes a sip anyway. “Tastes...like soda.”

“It is soda.”

“Why are you mad then?” Donghyuck asks.

“Dude,” Lucas whines. “There’s no alcohol here.”

Donghyuck looks taken aback. Why would Mark take them to a party if there wasn’t any alcohol?

“Wait, guys…” Yuta shakes his head. “I think this is—”

“Thank you all for coming to our Youth Group today!” One of the club leaders announces. “Today we’re going to be focusing on the book of Exodus, and why it’s so significant—”

“They better be talking about _Exodus_ the album,” Johnny whispers. 

“Shut up!” Donghyuck hisses. 

Yuta makes a noise like an aborted laugh. “Mark really brought us to a Christian Youth Group. That’s fine. What’s not fine is that Mark really thinks a Christian Youth Group is the definition of a _college party._ ”

“At least there’s food?” Donghyuck tries.

The four of them stick to each other as people approach them, speaking about their favorite bible verses. 

“I haven’t read a single book, let alone the Bible!” Lucas shakes his head once they leave. “That’s, like, one of the longest books ever written!”

Johnny and Yuta turn to each other slowly. 

“Are we...like...gonna get converted?” Johnny asks. “I’m an Atheist…”

“All of you shut the fuck up,” Donghyuck whisper-screams. “Mark put a lot of effort into this, you better at least _try_ to have fun.”

They all make a face at Donghyuck before they grudgingly disperse. 

Donghyuck does the only thing he really knows he’s good at. He walks over to the section of the room with instruments and picks up an abandoned guitar. 

Why are there instruments in a psychology room? He doesn’t know, but he’s not about to question it. Donghyuck barely knows how to play the thing, but he figures maybe now will be a time to learn. 

“What are you doing with my guitar?” Comes a familiar voice. 

Donghyuck stills. “I was going to sing a song. Like, if you have any hymns, y’know.” It’s much more embarrassing than he thought it would be, now that Mark is standing in front of him. Then he processes Mark’s words. “This is yours? I didn’t know you played.”

Mark reaches for it, and Donghyuck places it in his arms. “What song do you want to sing?”

“Um,” Donghyuck says. “Not a very pious person, I wouldn’t know.”

Mark pulls out his phone, showing Donghyuck some sheet music for a song. “You can read music right?”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “I’m a music major, of course I can.” He takes the phone from Mark’s hand. “Um, hey. About, well, everything...I’m sorr—“

“Play Wonderwall!” Johnny screams from the back of the room.

Donghyuck looks at him incredulously before turning back to Mark. Mark shakes his head. “We’ll talk later.”

He passes Donghyuck his phone. Donghyuck reads the sheet music over as Mark tunes his guitar, and then Mark starts playing, nodding his head at Donghyuck as a cue to begin.

It’s the first time he’s singing in front of Mark, and he’s nervous. He can feel Mark’s eyes on him every now and then— he sees the phantom smile graze across Mark’s face, his bright eyes, his flushed cheeks. It’s enough to set him alight. 

It doesn’t matter that everyone in the room is looking at them, not to Donghyuck. He only wants Mark’s attention right now. 

When he finishes the hymn, the room erupts in claps. He can hear Yuta and Johnny cheering. He looks over and sees Lucas at the food table again, holding a thumbs up.

Mark leaves his side almost immediately afterwards, and Donghyuck tries to mask his disappointment yet again. 

He should converse with other people. Donghyuck makes his way through the various groups of people, laughing and talking to them. A few discuss the bible with him, and he does his best to be respectful. He does his best at listening to what they have to say. And when he does, he realizes that there are some things they say that actually don’t sound half bad.

Halfway through the gathering, Mark collects the four of them, tapping them on the shoulder and excusing them from the group. 

“Let’s go,” Mark says to them once they leave the building. 

“Where are we going?” Yuta asks. 

Mark hums, with a smile. “We’re going drinking.”

“Now we’re talking!”

They end up at a popular noraebang in Hongdae, a place with walls covered in flowers. Their sign is lit up with neon lights. It’s cute, Donghyuck decides.

Johnny and Yuta are already setting up which songs to sing while Lucas tries to flag down someone to bring them drinks. 

Donghyuck sits by Mark when they’re finally settled into their room. The other three are occupied, leaving the two of them to their own devices for a few moments.

“Why’d you lie to me?”

The question is a bit jarring. It comes out of nowhere. But at the same time, Donghyuck expected it. 

“I didn’t have another excuse to see you.” 

Mark rolls his eyes. 

With a sigh, Donghyuck turns to him. “You looked so excited when you talked about books. I didn’t lie when I told you I have fun when I’m at the club with you. It is fun. I _like_ hearing you talk so passionately about it and I don’t even like _books_.”

“I got it.” Mark’s shoulders slump. “I’m not mad at you, y’know? Like...the whole purpose of the club is to get people into books...but I just feel like a loser.”

“Hyung, you _are_ a loser.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“I’m kidding,” Donghyuck says, softly this time. “I’m serious. If we really hated being at the club with you each week, do you think we’d consistently show up?”

“You would.”

“I would,” Donghyuck admits. “But they wouldn’t.”

Mark and Donghyuck look over to see Johnny pouring his soul into singing a Mariah Carey song while Yuta records it with a glass of beer in one hand. Lucas is currently double fisting shots, eyes wide as he cheers Johnny on.

Mark nods his head. “Okay, you’re right.”

“We’re not just club members, we’re friends. We care about you.”

There’s something that goes unsaid. 

_I care about you._

Donghyuck desperately wants to tell him, but he thinks Mark knows. 

“Thanks, Donghyuck.”

Mark gives him a quick pat on the back, before he’s standing up and singing a song along with Johnny, his eyes a little brighter than they were before. 

The night is filled with endless laughs, and way too many horribly executed dance routines. Donghyuck feels a little better about where he stands with Mark. 

But it’s not good enough. 

Something’s got to change.

— 

**Lit Club  
Donghyuck  
** **1:34PM**  
 _are you guys here?_

**Lit Club  
Yuta  
** **1:37PM**  
 _Yeah, please hurry up. Lucas needs to use the bathroom.  
He’s threatening to pee in my car  
Please open the door  
Please open the door  
OPEN THE DOOR FUCKER _  
  


**Lit Club  
Lucas  
1:39PM  
** _hey someone peed in front of your apartment  
lol   
it wasnt me tho _

Donghyuck opens the door to find the three of them carrying what appears to be booze. “We got the goods!” Johnny pushes past him to get inside of his apartment. 

“We’re not drinking,” Donghyuck says. “We’ve gotta be serious, guys, c’mon.”

They take their place in the living room of Donghyuck’s apartment. “This feels like I’m in class,” Lucas complains after opening the first page of the book. 

“You’re holding the book upside down, man.”

“We’re doing this to make it up to Mark.” Donghyuck grabs them all a few glasses of water. 

“We’re doing a pre-book club...for Mark’s book club,” Yuta sighs. “Alright, got it.” 

“Thirty minutes,” Donghyuck says. “We’ll read for thirty minutes and then we’ll have a discussion of the chapter, got it?”

The collective grunt shared by the other three is all he needs as confirmation. 

They sit in Donghyuck’s living room in silence, not even bothering to look up when Donghyuck’s roommates come home.

(“What the fuck are they doing?” Jeno asks.

Renjun shrugs, “I don’t know...but it’s like watching wild animals on tv.”

“I can’t believe Hyuck is doing all of this just for some dick.”)

Thirty minutes pass by painfully slow, but they do manage to finish the first chapter. “Everyone done?”

“Yeah,” Yuta says for them.  
  


“Okay. Lucas, give me a summary of the first chapter.”

“The premise of the novel is interesting,” Lucas begins, eyes flitting over the pages. “I think the beginning really hooks readers by showing just how traumatized the narrator is by the disappearance of their mom. Like, just by the tone of the first chapter itself, you can see that the narrator isn’t really aware of the extent to which their mother sacrificed herself. The narrator actually knows...very little about their mother, which is really telling. You think that in rural places families would be more close-knit. But that isn’t the case at all, there’s a lot more depth, much more than meets the eye.”

“Yo,” Johnny whispers, “What the fuck.”

Donghyuck pauses. “Wait… you actually know how to read?”

Lucas stares at him, shocked. “You thought I didn’t know how to read?”

“Well...” Yuta rubs the back of his neck. 

“Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean I can’t,” Lucas snorts. “Besides, how’d you think I got into University?”

“Lucas, you never go to class!” Johnny tries to explain. “How were we supposed to know??”

“Oh, it’s because I’m already working full time.”

“What?” Donghyuck sputters. “You have a job??”

“Yeah,” Lucas nods. “I’m on Naver’s PR team. My boss told me I just have to graduate, so I don’t really have to go to class.”

“I don’t know if I deserve to be angry right now. But I am,” Yuta seethes. “I’m busting my ass at school right now.”

The four of them read well into the night until Johnny passes out on the couch and Yuta falls asleep on the floor. Lucas ends up leaving somewhere around two in the morning because he has to— and Donghyuck quotes— ‘go into the office’ tomorrow morning. 

\--

“Hey guys, you’re all here early.” Mark grins at them, looking a little relieved. 

The four of them have already set up the circle of chairs, books in their laps as they wait for Mark to put his bags down. 

Mark sits down next to Donghyuck and tilts his head questioningly. “Should I start reading now?”

Donghyuck shakes his head. “We’ve already read the whole book. We figured today we could just discuss it?”

“You read the whole book?” Mark’s eyes widen. He turns to Lucas. “ _Even Lucas?_ ”

_“Seriously?_ You thought I couldn’t read either?” 

Lucas starts with his analysis, giving a little bit of background and adding his own thoughts about the story. “I mean, I liked it. I don’t think I’ll ever look at my mom the same way, like, ever again. Like...what’s she hiding from _me?_ Y’know? But I liked it.”

“To be honest, I didn’t like that it was told in second person then it moves to third person story-telling... It was kind of weird.” Yuta hums. “That’s my main problem with it. It’s less of a criticism and more of a personal preference. I guess it was meant to be elusive and kind of jarring.” 

Johnny goes on and talks about appreciating his mom more. “I’m never taking her for granted again, man. This shit fucked me up.”

Donghyuck nods along, mentioning a few quotes from the novel as he interjects his thoughts on his friends’ opinions of the book. “The themes of this book are really universal. But overall, it’s super specific to rural South Korea, which I liked. I think it really hit home for me— hyung, are you okay?”

Mark makes a noise of disbelief. “Okay, seriously. You guys have such good opinions. What the fuck happened? Are you being threatened? What’s going on?” Donghyuck notices a tear tracking down Mark’s face. 

“Oh my god, dude, look what you did, you made him cry!”

“This is so lame, ugh!” Mark shakes his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to cry, like. You guys didn’t have to do this.”

Donghyuck moves his seat closer. “We did. We want you to know that we care, and we’re going to keep this up.”

“Wait, we are?” 

“Uh, speak for yourself.”

“Fuck you, traitors.” Donghyuck grits his teeth, glaring back at them. He looks at Mark. “I’ll keep doing this. I’ll read one hundred books, I don’t care.”

Mark snorts, laughing to himself. “You don’t know how to read.”

Donghyuck grins back at him. “I’ll learn if it’ll make you happy.”

“Corny…” Mark laughs. “That’s so corny.”

The meeting ends with a fit of laughter. Mark talks about the theme of the novel and tells them all that yeah, he did end up going to the signing alone. They apologize to him profusely, but Mark waves them all off with a laugh. 

“Y’know, I did have a pretty short, but really profound conversation with the author.” Mark shows off his signed _Please Look After Mother_ novel with pride.

Donghyuck is...incredibly enamored. 

\--

He ends up walking Mark home that night. They round the corner to Mark’s apartment, pausing in front of the entrance. 

“Did you have fun?”

“Fuck yeah!” Mark exclaims. “I can’t believe you got them all to read...and actually like, process shit. I’m so stoked right now, you have no idea.”

“Hey, I actually have something I want to give you.” Donghyuck’s hand shakes as he reaches into his bag. He pushes the book into Mark’s hands. 

“I tried to think of ways to apologize to you, y’know. I wanted to sing for you, but I thought that might be weird. I wanted to recite a poem to you, or by you some flowers maybe, but nothing I thought of made sense. So this was the best thing I could think of.”

“I forgave you a while ago, it’s okay,” Mark insists. He looks down at the very clearly homemade book in his hands, gaze soft. “Do you wanna come inside?”

Donghyuck almost says no. But he’s a weak man. “Sure.”

He’s never been inside Mark’s apartment before. It’s pretty clean on the inside, decorated with plants and paintings lining the walls. 

“It’s really cute in here.”

“Ah, that’s all my hyung’s stuff.” He takes Donghyuck’s hand and pulls them into his room. It makes a bit more sense. It’s a little messier, books stacked up near his bed, empty cups around his table. “I...wasn’t expecting anyone today, uh. Sorry,” he laughs.

“No problem.”

“Here,” Mark moves a sweater off the edge of his bed. “You can just sit wherever you want. Can I read this?”

Donghyuck considers it for a moment. It’s so much more embarrassing being able to see Mark’s reaction to his words. It’s a lot more nerve wracking. He feels vulnerable; scared. 

But Mark starts doing something horrible. He starts reading what Donghyuck wrote him _out loud._

_“It was ten degrees outside when I met you. I barely felt like I was alive, having just woken up half an hour prior. It was hellishly cold, it felt like nothing could brighten my mood._

_It was ten degrees outside, but you made me feel warm…”_

“Please stop,” Donghyuck begs, his face completely red. “Oh my god, I thought it was bad when I was writing it, but it’s so, so, so much worse hearing it.”

Mark promises to read the rest of it silently. Donghyuck agrees, looking down at his lap as Mark digests his words eagerly. 

Donghyuck knows what’s coming. Flipping to the last page of the book, Donghyuck watches Mark reread it. Over and over again.

“I’m going to read this last page out loud,” Mark says, despite just moments ago _promising_ he wouldn’t. _Liar._ “Can I give you my analysis after?”

“You’re literally killing me right now, hyung,” Donghyuck breathes out shakily. He tries to laugh but it comes out more like a whine. “I’m really nervous.”

“Trust me, I’m not much better.” Mark laughs. “Um. This last part: ‘ _What should I do when I feel I’m happiest when I’m with you?_

_I’ve thought it over countless times. I don’t know how to tell you how I feel. I thought maybe I could write a story for you. Maybe a fantasy? A historical fiction? Slice-of-life?_

_But my words are a mess, and my world building is crap._

_To be honest, I think I’d very much rather write one together. Fuck it._

_Hey hyung, I like you._

_I can’t guarantee I’ll give you the world, but I can try.’”_

Mark closes the book, flipping back to the first page which says, “to read or not to read- lee donghyuck” _._

“That book is horrible,” Donghyuck jokes, his words clipped as he tries to remember how to breathe. “The narrator needs to get his shit together. 

“Really?” Mark stands up. He walks over to Donghyuck, closing the distance between the two. The mattress dips under his weight as he sits next to Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck’s heart thumps quickly. “Hyung, are you—”

Mark presses his lips against Donghyuck’s, a gentle, chaste kiss. “I actually liked it. A lot.”

“Oh.”

“I like you too, Donghyuck-ah.” 

Donghyuck never liked books. 

Not until he wrote one.

— 

“So, what’d you think of this chapter then?” Mark asks, really only looking at Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck grins back at him, about to answer when Johnny makes a gagging noise.

“When will you stop making us read all these romance novels?”

“You two were cute at first, but now I’m just angry at how _single_ you make me feel. Enough is enough.” Yuta comes up behind his friends, conspiring against them, “Lucas, Johnny, let’s unionize. I’ve had enough of that couple.”

Lucas looks between Donghyuck and Mark. “Wait, they’re together?”

Donghyuck ignores all of them, instead catching Mark’s eye. Mark gives him a knowing smile. 

Out of all the books Donghyuck’s read for the club, this is the story he’s most excited to start.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> AGAIN, HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANA!! LOVE YOU!
> 
> i don't talk about nct much, so if you'd like to shout about markhyuck, follow my best friend @sixteenbears on twitter!!


End file.
